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Trade unionism and sectarianism among Derry shirt workers 1920-1968:
with special reference to the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers

Finlay, A.R.;
(1989)
Trade unionism and sectarianism among Derry shirt workers 1920-1968:
with special reference to the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers.
Doctoral thesis, University of London.

Abstract

The problem at the heart of this study is: to what extent and in
what ways was the development of trade unionism in the Derry shirt
industry influenced by sectarianism? This problem and my approach to
it were elaborated in contradistinction to existing theories of trade
unionism in Northern Ireland. According to the main theory,
developed most cogently within traditional Irish Marxism, trade
unionism was thwarted by sectarianism. I suggest that this theory
has more to do with the reductionist and evolutionist assumptions of
its authors than with social reality and argue that the relationship
between trade unionism and sectarianism is better understood with an
approach in which it is recognised that both of these institutions
are constituted through the actions of concrete individuals who are
themselves constituted by society, and in which priority is given to
the meanings which individuals ascribe to their actions and
predicaments. My study is based on interviews with a sample of
retired union officials and activists.
My respondents were keenly aware of the Catholic-Protestant
dichotomy, but, contrary to what traditional Irish Marxists would
lead one to expect, they did not regard sectarianism as a significant
problem until the 1950s. My analysis of union growth and structure
1920-1952 largely confirmed this view: union densities compared
favourably with clothing workers in Britain, and the main factors
underlying fluctuations in membership were more or less the same as
elsewhere in Britain. Conflict between Protestant and Catholic
shirtmakers only became a problem as a result of inter-union rivalry
which followed the formation of a breakaway union in 1952. Sectarian
conflict was activated by a specifically trade union power struggle,
not vice versa, Thus, this study does not merely contradict the
prevailing view of the relationship between trade unionism and
sectarianism - it inverts it.

Type:

Thesis
(Doctoral)

Title:

Trade unionism and sectarianism among Derry shirt workers 1920-1968:
with special reference to the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers

Open access status:

An open access version is available from UCL Discovery

Language:

English

Additional information:

Thesis digitised by British Library EThOS. Third party copyright material has been removed.